Desperate Times

Let me tell you a story. More than half an year ago, in first week of December 2015, Chennai city, the capital of Tamil nadu, a state in the peninsular region of India, was flooded due to a continuous 2 day torrential rain. Roads weathered, bridges submerged, cars floated, lakes overflowed, people lost fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, and the list goes on. The times were desperate, and leaders emerged, friends were found, relationships were built and the society still survived. But this story is not of that flood in general, this story is about someone who was pushed to an extent which is sad for humanity. Though there were people who helped others by coming out of their way, there were times when the humanitarian aspects of the people were questionable.

There was a man, he had a wife, and they had two beautiful children. Not born with a silver spoon, the family moved to the metropolitan city of Chennai with dreams to prosper and support each other by making a living in the modern city. They reached Chennai on November 30 and had not found a proper accomodation for themselves. The wife was looking for accommodation facility and the husband was looking for a job and a place to live. They were staying near Velacherry, a place in Chennai.

Then it started drizzling, like a normal rain, on December 1st, 2016. People went to work, children played in the rain, water started filling the lakes. The family took shelter in Velacherry bus stop. The rain didn’t seem like taking a pause, it was continuous, rattling the roof tiles like a machine gun and the road started filling up. And after the first day rain, many areas in Chennai were under water, and so was Velacherry, one of the most affected places in the unfortunate incident. They were forced to move out of Velacherry and all their money and clothing was gone. Travelling like a herd of cattle, crushing, hurting and squeezing each other, the lucky ones came out of Velacherry.

They stayed near selaiyur, which wasn’t affected by the flood in comparison with other parts. They stayed near the bus stop, slept under the cold climate, didn’t have a house to seek comfort in, did not have money to buy food, did not have any means to contact their relatives or ask for help. It had been 2 days since they ate and the parents were able to withstand the hunger, but what would a 2 year old child do? She cried, and cried, but the tears shed from the mother’s eyes. The father asked the 3 people to wait in the bus stop while he went to get some food. He went to a shop, asked for food, but they refused, no shopkeeper came to his rescue, so he decided to go to people’s houses and ask for anything to eat, not for himself but for his children and his wife. But, who would believe, 2 days of hunger and 3 days of sleepless nights would make any man look like a thug. People shunned him out of their houses. He pleaded, cried, shouted, but none bothered.

He had no other options, his hungry kids and the tears from his wife’s eyes were all he could think about. Driven by adrenaline, and the love for his family, he broke in to a house, and met a family. He took a brick inside the house, and he asked the people if they had anything to eat. He threatened then with the brick and he ran to their kitchen, opened the refrigerator and took 2 packets of milk. He threw the brick and ran out of the house, while he bumped to a 75 years old lady and dropped the milk packets. He crawled all over the ground, panting, and scratching the floor, grabbed the milk packets and stood up. The family watched him, his eye met the eyes of the old lady and he dropped down, to her feet, pleaded for mercy and forgiveness, he told abt his misery and said, he needed to go as his family was waiting for him. They needed him and he must go. The was still on his knees when the old lady gave him ₹500 and asked him to go take care of his family.

He ran to his family, happy, with mud on his hands and dripping wet cloths, two packets of milk in his hand and went to the bus stop. He saw his family and rushed past the crowd. He took them to a hotel and the baby was given the milk. The rain stopped and he returned to his hometown.

The first time I found out about this man, I was silent, and sad, I felt handicapped, the city was helpless to this family and they had been through hell. I hope that family finds the courage in then to come back to this city and be successful. And I hope they are living a happy life. So, let us make life more habitable like we would like it to be if we were the ones who needed something from it.

Thank you for reading my words and do comment your opinion, because, as humans, we can always think and discuss on how to improve humanity.